Don't Leave Me
by MeGkAtHeRiNe
Summary: He tried to be the hero once again.


A/N - Written for my gorgeous Molly because she's sick and grumpy.

...

Clinging onto her blond friend's warm hand, Emily forced herself not to cry. Her tears had dampened her cheeks so much that the wind created by passing patients and doctors actually began to freeze her skin.

"He's going to be ok."

The brunette's eyes squeezed shut, the tears that had been welling in her chocolate eyes spilling over and splashing onto the tiled floor.

Hotch had been in surgery for over three hours, and every minute she head tick by on the clock across the hall, the brunette woman's heart fell further into her stomach.

"Mommy?"

Emily's head popped up at the curious voice at the end of the hall, her eyes seeing her son holding onto his uncle's hand for dear life. "Jack?"

The four year old cried when he saw his mother stand up from her seat and he quickly took off running for her. "Mommy!"

Falling to her knees, the profiler brought the sandy haired boy into her arms and hugged him tight to her chest. "Hey baby," she hiccuped, pressing gentle kisses to his hair as he clung to her. "Shh baby, it's ok. Remember to breathe, ok? Everything's alright."

Jack pulled back. "Mommy, where's daddy?"

The brunette rolled her lips in between her teeth and held onto her son's shoulders.

"Uncle Dave said daddy got hurt," the brown eyed boy cried.

"Daddy's hurt," Emily nodded, trying her best to keep her tears from lacing into her voice. "But he's back with the doctors right now getting better."

Jack rushed back into his mother's arms, his tears and snot running onto the skin of her neck as he cried. "Mommy, I want daddy."

The profiler nodded into her son's hair. "I know baby, I want daddy too." She picked him up, letting the sobbing boy curl into her as she took him to her chair so he could sit on her lap. "It's ok, baby. It's ok to cry."

He looked up from his mother's shoulder and patted at Emily's cheeks. "Don't cry."

"I can cry, it's ok," she nodded encouragingly. "I'm sad just like you, and I think that it's ok for us to cry. We might feel better afterward, you know?"

Jack pouted, shaking his head. "Is daddy gonna be ok?"

Emily paused, hearing the eerie silence around her as she got herself ready to nod her head. "I hope so, baby," she husked, her faint smile leaving her face as she hugged the blond boy to her chest as hard as she could.

Less than an hour later, the team looked up at the sound of Emily's last name being called.

Groggily looking up from his mother's chest, the now sleepy boy looked up to the doctor. "Where's my daddy?"

Emily pressed a kiss to her son's head, grunting as she hiked him onto her hip and stood from her chair. "Where's my husband? Is he ok?"

"You're Mrs. Hotchner?"

"I am," she nodded, her arms tight around her fidgeting son."

"Where's my daddy?"

The scream from the blond boy in her arms scared her and the rest of her teammates. Jack was never one to yell. "Jackson Paul, you don't yell like that."

The doctor held up his hand, smiling sadly to the BAU team that was clogging up the main waiting area. "It's alright, I fully understand. Your husband Aaron is out of surgery and moved into a private room. The bullet that he jumped in front of to save you, Ms. Jareau, hit him in the abdomen and was lodged in his diaphragm, but we managed to get he entire bullet out."

"So he'll be ok?"

"Your husband will be just fine," he nodded. "He's going to have to stay here for two weeks before he's released, but when he gets home, he's not allowed to go back to work for a full two months."

Rossi ran a hand down his face at the news. "No desk duty for two months? Good luck to you keeping him calm, Em," the Italian laughed.

The brunette mother smiled gently to the older man before turning back to the doctor. "So we can go see him?"

"As soon as you're ready," he nodded.

Clinging onto his mother, the four year old glared at the blond on the team with all his mite. "You made my daddy be hurt."

Emily ran her hand down her son's shaking back. "Jack, stop that. Aunt JJ didn't do anything."

"She made daddy get hurt!"

"Your daddy saved her, baby," the brunette woman whispered in his ear. "Remember? Daddy's a superhero."

Jack pouted, looking away from the upset woman and up to his mother. "Can we go see daddy?"

Emily smiled, pressing a kiss to his head before following the doctor down the hallway. "You read my mind, Jackie."

Walking into the pristine room, Emily made sure to not let her boots echo. She didn't want to disturb her husband, the man who lay resting in the hospital bed with a breathing mask over his nose.

"Once we're sure his lungs are stabilized, he'll have the oxygen only going up his nose," the doctor assured her.

The brown eyed woman nodded gently to the doctor before making me her way to the side of her husband's bed, sitting her and her son down in the chair that was waiting for them. "There he is, baby."

"Is daddy sleeping?"

She could see his eyes fluttering open, and the profiler gave a smile to her son. "No baby, look. Daddy's waking up."

Jack grinned down to his father, seeing his hand try and reach for the mask over his mouth. "Daddy!"

Emily held onto the four year old and took her husband's hand in hers. "You sure had us scared for a minute there," she tried to laugh, the tears flooding her dark eyes once more.

Slowly shaking his head, the tired man blinked up to the beautiful brunette he'd married. "I'm sorry."

Hearing those words choked out from behind the mask, Emily quickly leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her husband's cheek. "Don't say that," she chastised. "You saved JJ. You're a hero."

Aaron rolled his eyes at the comment.

"I know," she laughed, "very cliched. Why don't you go back to sleep? You went through a pretty traumatic surgery."

"You can sleep, daddy. We'll be here later too."

Emily smiled, leaning down so Jack could kiss his father's cheek. "You heard the man." Seeing the unit chief gesture to the mask on his face, Emily carefully pulled it down.

"I love you."

Her eyes stung, a hoarse laugh escaping her throat as she watched him slowly drift back to sleep. "I love you too."


End file.
